Marie talks to Alison...

[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

Tuesday Evening - The Medlab

After leaning on the side of the door for nearly ten minutes, Alison finally laid a hand on the handle, knocking lightly before opening it, ignoring Hank giving her concerned looks through the bay window of his lab. The sight that greeted her made her heart sink even further, if at all possible. The form curled up on the bed looked far too small to be Marie, and the cast stood out brightly under the light overhead, just as the bruises stood out starkly against her pale skin.

Swallowing once Alison pulled up her calmest expression, and started to walk over to the side of the bed quietly. "Hey."

"There you are." Marie's eyes lit up and she pushed herself to sit upright with her good arm, wincing a little. "I need to talk to you, Alison Blaire." She let herself sink back into the pillows a little with a sigh.

Noting the use of her full name, Alison couldn't help raising an eyebrow, the faintest of smiles curling her mouth. "I'm glad to see you," she said, the words coming out before she even knew what she'd been about to say. After taking another long look at the girl, she winced slightly. "Want me to beat up Hank for cutting up your hair like that?" A feeble joke, but the best she could offer, all things considered.

"Glad to see me?" Marie made a sour face. "I'll take that as a general statement. And don't blame Hank for the haircut, I know where he lives and he's not stupid enough to mess with my hair. Now, just so we get this out of the way, Ms. Blaire; if you say that you're sorry, I have to throw you out. Okay?" She held out her arms. "Want a hug? You must have had a shitty time."

Biting down on the automatic words of apology that had indeed been forthcoming, Alison stared at her for a moment, tears filling her eyes. "Yeah," she murmured, almost to herself. The thought that Marie must have had a much harder time of it, all things considered, clearly etched on her face, but remaining unspoken. "A hug would be nice." Taking careful consideration of Marie's bruises, she leaned in, arms wrapping lightly around her.

"The waiting is the worst," Marie whispered, returning the hug. "And don't you dare be sorry for a minute more. You did everything right." Then she pushed Alison away and held her a moment at arm's length. "I'm serious, Ali. This is what we do. This is what happens sometimes. It's not your fault. You did exactly what you were supposed to do."

Taking a deep breath, Alison released it slowly. "I know that... here," she tapped the side of her head lightly, "to a certain extent. Still doesn't keep me from wondering what I could possibly have done to bring you back instead of -- well." She took a swipe at the tears, shaking her head in frustration, seeing Marie in that condition only driving the knife in a bit deeper although she hid that well.

"It's worth thinking about. Really." Her tone was practical. "I'm thinking about it too. I forgot what an ass John is and what it would do to my head to let him in. I was reckless because of it and I should have known it could happen. Mistakes were made here and there. We got lucky. Because we get taught so well, lucky means we get to fight another day. Ali... it sucked, but it wasn't the end of the world. You did your end of things right. You want to talk about not doing this all again, I'm up for talking when my ears quit ringing so much." She sighed wearily. "I just wanted to tell you that you shouldn't be blaming yourself about any of this."

Nodding at her words Alison went quiet for a moment. "Thanks," she finally said simply, with a small but genuine smile, reaching out slowly to tuck away a short strand of stray hair from Marie's forehead. "Talking more later sounds good. Until then... anything I can do for you, while you're stuck in here?" she offered.

A look of distress flickered across Marie's face, but she regained her smile. "Well, I can't go about looking like this," she said. "I mean, look at my hair... you're smart, you can smuggle me a hairdresser, right? And maybe knock Hank out long enough for me to get a shower? He says I can't be walking around yet, but I'm gross... I can't see anyone like this." Sorrow clouded her features again and she sighed. "It really would make me feel better not to be so ugly," she confessed in a small voice.

"You're not ugly," was the automatic reply, as Alison found herself on very firm ground all of a sudden. "Bruised up and in dire need of a hair cut, sure, but not ugly in the least and don't you say that again. Now, I don't think Hank would let me smuggle a mouse in here right now, but," she drawled out the last word, considering the alternatives. "I think I could do something to help out, until we can smuggle you out to meet Jacques, mm?" She waggled her fingers lazily, light threading the edges. "I'll bring down some magazines for you to look at some styles and see which you like best. As for the shower," she grinned wickedly, "you just leave Hank to me. It's just up to you if you'd like to nap first, or have that shower now instead." She made a mental note to send Hank off to knock on her door as well, to ask for some of Marie's real nightclothes from one of her roommates.

"Thanks." Marie smiled up at her. "You're a good friend, Alison. You going to be okay?" She looked small and weary again, sinking into the pillows.

"I try. And so are you, hon." Stuck down here but still worrying about my mental state of all things... "I'll be fine, don't you worry. Why don't you rest up for now, and I'll see about arranging for that haircut and shower when you wake up, mmm?" She leaned over, moving slowly, and readjusted the bed sheets carefully. "And if you see a shaved Hank hiding under his desk when you wake up, it's 'cause he tried to say no," she stage whispered, pointing to the window where a flash of blue fur was seen moving out of sight rapidly.

Marie managed a giggle and shook her head a little. "I don't know why I'm so tired, still. I'm sorry." She stifled a yawn. "... bald Hank. You're so silly." It was hard for her to keep her eyes open now. "Stupid painkillers," she complained sleepily. "Didn't think they'd work that fast."

Leaning on the side of the bed, Alison murmured quietly in agreement, content to not move until Marie had fallen asleep. With a determined look she turned to look at the medical lab's observation window, and spotting Hank, walked quietly out of the room and then made a beeline for him, smiling sweetly the entire time.